Oregon
senior Laura Roesler was a high school junior the last time the Ducks didn't
win the women's NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship.

Oregon will be trying to make it five
straight when this year's meet begins Friday at the Albuquerque, N.M., Convention Center.

The second-ranked Ducks are in the mix,
along with No. 1 Florida, Texas A&M, Georgia and Texas. On paper, it's crowded
at the top and the title is up for grabs.

A senior class that includes Roesler,
Phyllis Francis, Chizoba Okodogbe and Megan Patrignelli will be trying to keep
the streak from ending on their watch.

Last
year, it was group that featured 2013 graduates Jordan Hasay, Anne Kesselring
and Becca Friday trying to keep this thing rolling.

"They never had lost one, and they
didn't want that one to be the first," Roesler said. "Now I'm a senior, and
I'm kind of in the same boat. But I don't think I need to put any unnecessary
pressure on anyone on the team. We will go out and do our jobs, and we'll have to see how the points play out."

"You shouldn't underestimate those
freshmen," UO coach Robert Johnson said. "They might be just naïve enough to go
there, not know the stage they are on and surprise not only us, but
themselves."

Freshman Christian Brennan has a leg of
the 4x400, which means she is filling shoes left behind by sprinter English
Gardner, a force for the Ducks both athletically and emotionally. Gardner turned professional last spring after her junior season.

"I don't know if we have someone with
that tenacity, that go-get-'em attitude, that pit bull mentality," Johnson said.
"But we have some fiery leaders on our team who just display it in a different
way."

The Ducks need all the leadership they
can muster because Florida, in particular, is a force. The Gators are deep and can
score in a lot of ways.

Both Florida and Oregon have entries in
the 4x400, the meet's concluding event. The championship probably won't be
settled until then.

The Ducks need everybody to chip in.

"My sophomore year was a little
different," Roesler said. "We had Brianne (Theisen), English, Jordan, Anne,
Becca — people who would score just a lot of big points. Whereas this year
we're going to have to nickel and dime and scrap."

The UO men are a long shot in the team
picture. Florida is the squad to beat.

But the Ducks have big guns, such as 400
specialist Mike Berry, second in this meet a year ago; Mac Fleet, the reigning
NCAA outdoor 1,500-meter champion and entered here in the mile, and 2013 NCAA
cross country champion Edward Cheserek, slotted into the 3,000 and 5,000.

The big three could do major damage. If
Trevor Dunbar (3,000), Parker Stinson (3,000 and 5,000), hurdler Johnathan
Cabral and Dakotah Keys (heptathlon) chip in, this suddenly could become very
interesting.